Condo for Sale in Original Playboy Mansion for a Cool $2.9 Mil

In what the listing agent says is a rare opportunity, a 3-bedroom condo in Chicago's former Playboy mansion has hit the market for $2.9 million. That's right -- where the magazine's founder, Hugh Hefner, once threw lavish parties and snuggled with his Bunnies.

In 1959, Hefner bought the stately French 72-room mansion located in Chicago's Gold Coast and made it his main residence until he moved to Los Angeles in 1974 to "Playboy Mansion West" -- the 21,000-square-foot home that's now known as the bon vivant's party palace.

Prominent Chicago developer Bruce Abrams bought the mansion in the 1990s and remodeled it into seven, roughly 3,000-square-foot condos. But the one for sale is the only unit with private access to the main garden, the legendary common area where Hefner and the Playboy Bunnies once frolicked.

Inside, the detailing is ornate. The foyer is flanked by two white pillars. There are two fireplaces, and crown moldings and archways throughout. There's also a private patio and two spaces in an attached garage.

While the historic mansion has always been a fancy place to live, dicing up the massive property has made it more manageable through the years. After Hefner left his Chicago estate, it was first donated to the Art Institute of Chicago. But it was only under the helm of the museum for four years before it was deemed too expensive to maintain.

Along with the nearly $3-million-dollar price, the future owners of the 3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom condo will inherit approximately $22,000 in real estate property taxes.

They'll also have to swing with something else leftover from the Hefner's man-about-town days. That is, the brass plate on the mansion's main door that bears the Latin inscription, Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare, which means, "If you don't swing, don't ring."